Personal mission statement

July 20th, 2010

Why?

I’ve read that the #1 cause of stress in general is living life outside of your values, and how else to recognize that stress than to first recognize your values?

At my job, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is required reading. Part of that process is to create a personal mission statement. The idea is that any decision, any life goal can be measured against this statement. It’s incredibly powerful and I highly recommend it.

Where to start

  • There is a mission statement writing tool out there from Franklin Covey that comes highly recommend to help flesh this out
  • One of my favorite inspiration and productivity blogs, Marc and Angel, suggests boiling it down to a single sentence (and has tips on how to do that)
  • I used my own approach (see steps below)
  • I say, use what works best for you!

The process I used

  1. Step 1 – Brainstorm – I wrote down everything that I care about on a single piece of paper… and I mean everything. Big things, little things, things are silly or vain, things that are serious – everything. I tried to be as brutally honest with myself as possible – especially when it comes to religion (more about that in this blog post entitled “Belief” if you’re interested). The list was about 50 items long.
  2. Step 2 – Categorize -  In looking at the things on my list, they seemed to fall logically into a few different categories – “In life,” “In love,” “In my career,” etc.
  3. Step 3 – Refine – Next I combined things to come up with a list of fairly absolute statements.  I  generalized a lot of things, and wrote out specifics on others. I tried to think in terms of absolutes as much as possible – if my relationship/job/living situation changed drastically, all of these things would still apply. If (heaven forbid) Jason got struck by lightning and I moved to Moscow to join the Popovich family pet circus, I would continue to live my life through these statements.

The result – My Personal Mission Statement:

==

In life

I will present myself in a way that exudes confidence and spirit.

I will enjoy myself, making the best of every situation.

I will not be complacent. I will take action, even if it is within myself.

I will go with my gut to do the right thing, keeping in mind Reason, Experience, Scripture, and Tradition.

In romance/love

I will love and be loved… and never expect one to come without the other.

I will not settle for anything less than a relationship filled with joy, adventure, respect, and open communication.

In friendship

I will surround myself with genuine people – who make me laugh.

In my career

My career goal is to enjoy going to work every day, and feel valuable (in compensation, respect, and esteem) doing something I am genuinely passionate about.

I will do my part by identifying and taking opportunities to challenge myself, constantly learning from others, and putting my full spirit and work ethic into my work. I will approach every day with a positive attitude.

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7 Responses to “Personal mission statement”

  1. KatrinaME on July 21, 2010 2:32 pm

    Inspiring post. Very inspiring.

  2. Lynette on July 21, 2010 4:34 pm

    I see you in every word of your statement. You are a blessing!

  3. qcait on July 21, 2010 10:08 pm

    After writing this about a year ago, I finally decided that the ultimate way to confirm it was to post it for the world to see. Thanks for all the love!

  4. Kim Kodgson on July 21, 2010 10:17 pm

    Beautifully put. Inspired.

  5. Emily on November 1, 2010 3:03 pm

    I am going to write my own. Beautiful post.

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    Caitlin Kaluza (aka QCait) is a Social Media addict, Schipulite, and general proponent of clever marketing campaigns. Other addictions: kittens, music festivals, traveling, fightin' Texas Aggie football, theme parties.

    Class of 2007 graduate of Texas A&M University - degree in Marketing, certification in International Business, Classical Studies minor.

    E-mail me at qcait at qcait dot com

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